Gina K. Previews Continue

Hello again and welcome to the third night of the Gina K Designs May release previews! Tonight the latest Stamp TV Kit is being previewed and I have to tell you, this kit is going to knock your socks off!! It is HUGE with tons of stamps, loads of cardstock, ribbon, brads, and those fabulous new easy set eyelets. The Stamp TV Kit is called "Enjoy the Sunshine" and here is what you get in your kit:

Cardstock: (26 total sheets)

• Black: 3
• Heavy White: 3
• Layering White: 3
• Red Hot: 3
• Turquoise Sea: 3
• Grass Green: 3
• Sweet Mango: 3
• Wild Dandelion: 3
• Navy: 2

8 Yards of Ribbon - assorted 5/8" and 1/4" widths and colors

Silver Brads

Silver Eyelets (easy set)

Assorted Patterned Papers

And, of course, the fabulous stamp set, which if purchased alone would be valued at $34.95!

You can make so many cards with this kit! You will love it! (and did I mention that the ribbon in this kit is fabulous! Great colors and lots of ribbon!)

Here is the first card I made with the set. Summer is my favorite time of the year and sweet, fresh strawberries are to me one of the first signs that summer has really arrived so, of course, I had to use this image for my card!

The card base is Pure Luxury Red Hot. The ivory layer is Pure Luxury Ivory that I embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. The patterned paper is from October Afternoon and was cut out using the Top Note Bigz Die for the Big Shot. That piece of green paper you see peeking out from under the focal image is a new Pure Luxury color called Grass Green. The ribbon is from the Stamp TV kit. I stamped the strawberries in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored them with Copics. They are coated with Crystal Lacquer to make them shiny and juicy looking! The sentiment is stamped in Memento New Sprout.

The second set for tonight's preview is Stars by Tami Mayberry. This fun little set is going to be a favorite for making lots of different types of cards. Of course, it will be perfect for the Fourth of July but you will see that it can be used for other things as well. Here is the card I made with it. (The colors are coming through a bit wonky in this photo for some reason. The stars and the green background really do match in real life!)

When I saw the "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" sentiment I knew I would have to use this set for a baby card because it reminded me of my son when he was very young and loved to sing, "Twinkle, twinkle, 'tar."  As luck would have it, I have to attend a baby shower this week so this card is perfect for it! The card base is made with Pure Luxury Innocent Pink and the patterned paper is from a new digital paper pack being released tomorrow night, called Double Dots and Plaids by Tami Mayberry. This set has a variety of patterned star stamps; I've used four of them here and cut them out using my Nestibilities Stars. It is a bit hard to see in the photo but I used a fifth star stamp in the center over the sentiment. I used five different stars on this card and I didn't use all of the star stamps included in this set! There are a number of different sentiments in this set that allow for lots of types of cards. I think you will find this one surprisingly versatile.

So are you ready to see more previews of these sets? Check out these Designer's Links:

• Gina Krupsky  *Enjoy the Sunshine StampTV kit designer
• Tami Mayberry  *Stars designer
• Jessica Fick
• Theresa Momber 
• Melanie Muenchinger 
• Nina Brackett
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Donna Baker
• Lynn Mercurio
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kurtis Amundson
• Colleen Schaan
• Kay Simmons *May's CenterStage Spotlight Team Member!* (You are here!)

Please make plans to attend our Release party this Thursday night, May 27th from 7-10 central time which will be held at StampTV.  There will be contest questions, challenges, samples from several designers and lots of chatter all leading up to 10pm central, when all the new products and stamp sets previewed this week on our blogs become available online through GinaK Designs store!

Gina K.Designs May Release Preview #2

Happy Monday and welcome to the second preview night for the Gina K Designs May stamp release. I love the fact that the sets in this month's release are really varied, providing loads of possibilities for a wide range of cards. The first set I am previewing for you tonight is made with the beautiful set called, "Hope Grows" by the always talented Theresa Momber. As you will see, I created a sympathy card with this set but there are many other types of cards you could use this set to create.

This card was made with Pure Luxury white base weight with the sentiment stamped directly onto the card base in Memento London Fog. The scalloped circles are punched from Pure Luxury Moonlit Fog and the plain circles are from Pure Luxury In the Navy and Pure Luxury White. The images were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black. I colored the owl with Copic markers and sponged around the images with Memento London Fog.

The second card for tonight is a completely different direction from this one! Isn't that part of the fun of making cards -- all the different types of cards you can make in the span of an hour or two! This card is made with Melanie Muenchinger's new set, "Candles on Your Cake." How perfect given that yesterday was my birthday. I had a lot of fun making this card and it felt like I was making my own birthday card since I made it on my birthday. Fun way to celebrate, huh?

Now if all those bright colors don't make someone's birthday cheery, I don't know what will! I made the card base with Pure Luxury Passionate Pink and layered Pure Luxury White base weight on top. The striped designer paper is from the new Basic Grey pad, "Delovely." I stamped the candles with Memento Rose Bud, Dandelion, and Pear Tart and the flames are Memento Cantaloupe. The blue candle  was stamped with an SU color. The cake was stamped on white paper in Memento Rich Cocoa and cut out. I stamped pink sprinkles in Rose Bud and then added a bit of pink glitter just to bling it up a bit! The gorgeous green ribbon is from the new Stamp TV Kit, which will be previewed tomorrow night so be sure to check back for that and another fabulous set on preview night #3!

For more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these Designer's Links:

• Gina Krupsky
• Theresa Momber * illustrator of Hope Grows
• Melanie Muenchinger * illustrator of Candles on Your Cake
• Jessica Fick
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Donna Baker
• Lynn Mercurio
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kurtis Amundson
• Bev Gerard
• Kay Simmons *May's CenterStage Spotlight Team Member!* (You are here!)

Please make plans to attend our Release party this Thursday night, May 27th from 7-10 central time which will be held at StampTV.  There will be contest questions, challenges, samples from several designers and lots of chatter all leading up to 10pm central, when all the new products and stamp sets previewed this week on our blogs become available online through GinaK Designs store!

Gina K.Designs May Release Preview #1

Tonight is the first Gina K Designs May Release preview and I am SO excited to be participating as this month's Center Stage Spotlight Guest Designer!! I am always excited about each new stamp release but this one is fabulous!! The stamp sets are amazing!

Here is the first set being previewed tonight. It is by Rupa Shevda and it's called Beach Bum. This is the perfect set for making fun, fun, fun summer cards! We are having record high temperatures today in southern Wisconsin -- around 90 -- so it is the perfect day for previewing this set! Wish I were at the beach!

This was made with Pure Luxury Ivory base weight paper from Gina K. and the that yummy orange paper is new one coming to the store on Thursday as part of the May release. It is called Sweet Mango. Doesn't that sound like summer? I paper pieced the surf boards with some designer paper I had picked up a long time ago at a local store. The towel is paper pieced using a new digital paper by Nina Brackett,  and the umbrella is made with the new Pure Luxury Wild Dandelion paper, both of which are also coming in the May release. The "sand" is from Flower Soft. It is called sand and it truly does look like sand!

The second set being previewed tonight is called Botanicals by Gina K. You are going to love this set for it's wonderful versatility. There are so many different ways it can be used and Nina's gorgeous coordinating digital paper pack will really help to make this a favorite for making a variety of cards.

This card is made with Pure Luxury Turquoise Sea paper and the background paper is part of the digital paper pack called Bright Botanicals. One of my favorite things about this set is that it has a script background stamp. I used it on the yellow strip and on the kraft focal image. There are various flowers and some really great sentiments. I forgot to take a photo of the inside of this card but the rest of the sentiment is in a super fun script and says . . . for being such a good friend.  That gorgeous turquoise ribbon is a little sneak peek from the Stamp TV kit this month. I can't wait to make more cards with this set to share at the release party!

Thanks for stopping by tonight! Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more previews.

For more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these Designer's Links:

• Gina Krupsky
• Jessica Fick
• Theresa Momber
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Nina Brackett
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Donna Baker
• Lynn Mercurio
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Kurtis Amundson
• Bev Gerard
• Colleen Schaan
• Sankari Wegman
• Suzanne Dean
• Valerie Stangle
• Kay Simmons *May's CenterStage Spotlight Team Member!* (You are here!)

Please make plans to attend our Release party this Thursday night, May 27th from 7-10 central time which will be held at StampTV.  There will be contest questions, challenges, samples from several designers and lots of chatter all leading up to 10pm central, when all the new products and stamp sets previewed this week on our blogs become available online through GinaK Designs store!

Gina K. Designs Center Stage Spotlight Designer for May! That's ME!

I've been doing a happy dance all weekend long! Ever since Gina K. announced the May Center Stage Spotlight Designer on Friday, I have been on cloud 9, along with bouts of anxiety! I could hardly believe my eyes when I opened my e-mail and there was an e-mail titled, "Congratulations" from Gina K. I didn't believe it at first! I had this momentary thought flash through my mind that she must have sent the e-mail to me by mistake, but, no, it was MY card that she had chosen. (See my post from May 11 to see the card)

I cannot tell you what a honor it is to have been chosen as the May Center Stage Spotlight Designer! I am so excited and nervous all at the same time! I can't wait to get the new stamps so I can start making some cards for the sneak peeks that will be starting soon. You are going to love the new sets! I know -- we say that every month but there are some really fun, unique sets in the May release! Can't tell you anything more right now but just wait, you'll see what I mean!

Thanks to everyone who has sent their congratulations and support! I hope you will enjoy my creations this month . . . and who knows, maybe next month it will be you in the spotlight! Be sure to watch for the challenge from Gina in a few weeks when you can enter your card to become the next spotlight designer. If I can do it, so can you!

Gina K. Movie Inspired Challenge

Gina K.'s challenge for this month's Center Stage Designer search was to make a card using one of the stamp sets from the April release based on a favorite movie. One of my favorite movies is a recent one -- Julie and Julia -- starring the always wonderful Meryl Streep. In case you haven't seen this delightful movie, it is about a young woman in New York who is unhappy with her job and decides to start cooking her way through Julia Child's famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She decides to cook a recipe every day from the cookbook and blog about it. The movie follows her cooking adventures and shares the story of Julia Child's life and how she became a famous chef.
This is the cover of that famous cookbook and it is the inspiration for the card I made.
I used one of the stamps from my favorite set in the April release, called Sew Pretty. I just love the retro look of these stamps and thought this very 60s looking woman in her pearls and apron fit well with the Julia Child era. The card base is Pure Luxury Ivory and the polka-dot background, apron, skirt, and oven mitt dps are from Cosmo Cricket. The red squares are Pure Luxury Red Hot. I paper pieced the apron, skirt and oven mitts, and I colored her sweater, hair, face, arms and jewelry with Copic markers. I used Spica markers on her pearls and earrings to give them some sparkle.


This was a fun card to make and it made me think again how much I enjoyed the movie Julie and Julia. I just may have to rent it and watch it again some day soon! I hope you enjoyed seeing my card and that it inspires you to see this light-hearted, funny movie, or inspires you to find a new recipe and give it a try! Bon Appetit!

Gina K. Book Inspired Challenge

Does anyone else remember this delightful book? It was one of my favorite books as a child! (Note the 29 cent price on the front! That tells you how old I am! Actually, I believe the original publication date of the book was about 10 years before I was born but I'm sure it didn't cost much more than that when my mother bought it for me.) I remember my mother reading it to me and when I was old enough to read, I continued to read it because I loved the story about the kind little chipmunk mailman who delivered cards and letters to all the animals on Bayberry Lane, except for Mrs. Pig. Mrs. Pig never got any mail even though she waited every day for Mr. Chipmunk to come. Seeing how sad she was that she never got any mail, Mr. Chipmunk and the other animals arranged a surprise party for Mrs. Pig and sent her an invitation in the mail in a yellow envelope. She was so happy to get that invitation in the mail and to make new friends with the other animals along Bayberry Lane. Amazing what one little piece of mail in the mailbox can do for someone's spirits. That's why we all make cards, isn't it? To bring a smile to someone's face when they get it in their mailbox?

My card for Gina K.'s illustrator blog hop challenge was inspired by this lovely little book. When I got the new Stamp TV Kit "Spring Mix" I knew that the mailbox with the chipmunk in it reminded me of something and when I saw Gina's challenge to use a favorite childhood book for a card inspiration, it clicked! The stamp reminded me of this favorite book from my long ago childhood. Here is the card I made using "The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane" as my inspiration.

This gatefold card is made with Stampin' Up Groovy Guava as the base and the scalloped circle. The green panels and scalloped circle are Pure Luxury Creme de Menthe and the dp is from the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love paper pack. All stamps are from the Stamp TV Kit Spring Mix. I colored the images with Copics, including the background, which I colored in with Copic B32 and then went over with the colorless blender to remove some of the color because it was too much blue.

Thanks, Gina, for bringing back such warm, childhood memories for me! I had many, many books as a child (and still do! So do my kids!). My mother was an elementary school librarian so reading was a huge part of our lives and home. It was really fun to take a quick stroll down memory lane to recall this book and a sweet little piece of my childhood!

Thanks for stopping by and for sharing this memory with me!

Spring is in the Air

There has been just a hint of spring in the air here the past few days as we see the temperatures begin to creep up over the freezing mark and the snow banks start to melt. That spring fever has hit my card making, too! All of the cards I made tonight are done in spring colors, all from the new Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Spring Assortment card stock. Gina has posted an Illustrator/Design Team Color Challenge over on her blog. The challenge requires that two colors from the spring assortment be used on each card as well as one of the stamp sets from the February release. So, I decided to join in the challenge and ended up being so inspired by those spring colors and new stamp sets that I made three cards!

Here they are:

This one has a Pure Luxury Lemon Drop base with Pure Luxury Creme de menthe layered on top. The designer paper is from Basic Grey and was cut out using the Top Note die from Stampin' Up and was then embossed with a cuttlebug folder. I used Nestabilities Labels Nine to cut out the Creme de menthe layer and a white layer that had been stamped with one of the fabulous stamps from Lovely Labels. (I LOVE that set!!) The flowers are from the Spring Florals stamp set that I colored with Memento markers and stamped into the center. The little medallion and "Happy Birthday" greeting are from a new SU stamp set called Vintage Labels. I punched it out with a scalloped punch and added green and yellow punched flowers and a brad before adhering it to the card.

This card was pretty quick to put together but I had fun with the adorable stamps from Dream Birds. Aren't they cute? I used a Nestabilities Label Two to cut out the white piece that I stamped the flowers and bird, tree, and butterfly onto. I sponged a bit of Memento Lulu Lavendar around the edges and adhered it to the card, which has a base of Pure Luxury Creme de menthe, a layer of Pure Luxury Lovely Lavendar, and a strip of embossed Creme de menthe. The lavendar gingham ribbon is a piece I had in my stash (somehow I missed ordering the GKD Spring Ribbon Assortment! Gotta get that!). I added some buttons from the Spring Assortment buttons to finish it off. Oh, the sentiment is also from the Dream Birds set.

And, my favorite! The poison dart frog! I looked this guy up on line so I could make him somewhat authentic looking! This card starts with a base of Pure Luxury Ocean Mist and a piece of designer paper from a K & Company mat pad. I used the Nestabilites Deckle Edge rectangles to cut out the Pure Luxury Lemon Drop and White layers. I stamped my froggy, which is from the fun new set by Theresa Momber called Hang in There, with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored him with Copic markers. I also sponged around the edges of the white layer in Memento Summer Sky. I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of PL Ocean Mist and cut it out with the double ended tag from Spellbinders. I attached it with yellow brads from Basic Grey and it was done!

Hope you enjoyed seeing these spring inspired cards! Now if spring would really come, I'd be very happy! Think spring!